Diving with giants: The extraordinary shots that capture the gentleness of nature's largest predator
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 10:50 AM on 08th April 2010
http://i.dailymail.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/i/pix/2010/04/07/article-1264241-090884E1000005DC-895_634x952.jpgThese incredible pictures shows the gentleness of giant sperm whales as they play near the surface.
Taken in Dominica in the Caribbean, the pod even allows snorkellers to touch and interact with them.
Hunted for their oil and demonised as savage brutes in fiction such as Herman Melville's Moby Dick, these pictures show a gentler side to one of the planet's largest mammals.
They were taken by Dr Peter G Allinson, from Florida, who specialises in Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine who travels to Dominica on a regular basis to highlight these magnificent creatures.
Dr Allinson, 61, said: 'When they interact with us they approach us very closely, rolling over again and again, trying to get us to rub their abdomens and bodies.
'When you start getting close to them you feel nervous, intimidated and then as they interact with you pleasure - you realise they are intelligent.'
More:
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1264241/Diving-giants-The-extraordinary-shots-capture-gentleness-natures-largest-predator.html#ixzz0kVUqiCDC